Remove 8 schools you have little chance for admission first
I work for UNC General Administration - I’ve rarely hear anyone interested in Pembroke. It’s cool to see it here! They have 75% admittance rate. You would get in. Your list seems to have a few in each category (match/reach) which is good.
Have you checked the Common Data Set of each college to see what their score range is for each subject? You may be able to eliminate some schools that way. If you’re applying as a STEM major the lopsided scores may count against you even if your overall score is in their mid-range of accepted students.
@PennCAS2014 Your friend’s situation is not comparable. Your friend had good albeit not outstanding test scores and could show unusual achievement in his/her field. This applicant has a 460 in math and has not noted any outstanding achievements in any post. Reaches are great but Wharton is just not realistic and this OP must pare down his/her list (I’m guessing) for financial reasons.
I was saying “woefully” sarcastically- i don’t actually think that score is woeful at all. Everyone’s achievements and skill sets are different. And I stick by the advice that it doesn’t hurt to apply to a super-reach if you love it and think you have “no shot” as long as it won’t cause you financial hardship, you have a list of other safeties/matches (a range of them) that you’re applying to, and you keep the admissions process in perspective, always remembering admission is unlikely for anyone to a super-reach. Applying to college is a little bit about dreaming big as well as being realistic. Under the conditions I mentioned in both this post and my last one, applying to one super reach is the smart thing to do because you can’t be sure what an admissions officer will see in you. OP knows Penn is unrealistic-- it wouldn’t come as a surprise if it didn’t work out. But if he has 7 other colleges to which he applies that are more realistic and he keeps in mind that it probably won’t work out, there’s no harm in trying.
If your score is near or below the school’s 25th percentile, then unless you have a KILLER hook (e.g. recruited athlete; internationally famous in your own right; or parent ready to donate a $20 million new dorm building) or super compelling life’s story (e.g , engaging essay about how you were raised in the wild by a pack of wolves), drop it from your list.
What is your yearly budget?
As an international, you should not apply to UC Riverside. There is no aid and you have schools on here that are around the same level. Is there a reason you’re applying to almost all public schools?
I’ve never heard of Nova Southeastern Univerisity or Univerisity of West Georgia, so I can’t give you any advice for these two.
Eliminate UPenn if your SAT is just okay. If you can make the score great, then consider applying.
Hard to say with little idea of your scores and GPA and no indication of what kind of school you’re looking for.
International student
Not comfortable posting all of my stats
I’m looking for 10-15 MAX and I currently have 22. Most of them, I LOVE so it’s hard to cut them down. I had 100+ before so I’ve come a long way.
Tutition and such isn’t too much of a major factor as I’m able to get an automatic $20,000 scholarship from my local government and then a private scholarship which normally run from $30,000 to $40,000.
Some important factors to me are if they offer study abroad , honors college , international scholarships , dorms ,atmosphere , etc.
The schools :
Boston Univeristy
Elon University
Emory University
Florida International Univeristy
Georgia State University
North Carolina State Univeristy
Northeastern Univeristy
Nova Southeastern Univerisity
Ohio State Univeristy
Purdue Univeristy
Quinnipiac Univeristy
Rutgers Univeristy
Syracuse Univeristy
University of Arizona
UC Riverside
UC San Diego
UMass Amherst
Univeristy of Miami
UNC Pembroke
Univeristy of Pennsylvania
Univeristy of South Florida
Villanova Univeristy
Please disregard my last posts.
I need help narrowing down these schools.
Can you help? And give reasons why you’re taking down a school.
I want to study business / accounting and I don’t feel comfortable posting my other stats but I have well rounded ECs , high academics and an “okay” SAT score for someone who did no studying and I am also international. I fear high crime areas and high racial crimes.
Florida International Univeristy
Georgia State University
North Carolina State Univeristy
Nova Southeastern Univeristy
Ohio State Univeirsty
Purdue Univeristy
Rutgers University
Syracuse University
Univeirsty of Arizona
Univeirsty of Cinncinati
Univeirsty of Califronia : Riverside
Univeirsty of Massachusetts: Amherst
Univeirsty of Miami
UNC Pembroke
Univeirsty of Pennsylvania
Univeirsty of South Florida
Univeirsty of West Georgia
I want about 8-10:/
You need a new list with more realistic schools and fewer unrealistic schools.
Boston Univeristy-remove. This school did not accept a single student with math SAT below 500. I am all for being optimistic and applying to some reach schools but you are not remotely competitive for this school. Save your time/money.
Elon University-remove. This school accepted less than 10% of students with math SAT below 500.
Emory University-remove. This school did not accept a single student with math SAT below 500. I am all for being optimistic and applying to some reach schools but you are not remotely competitive for this school. Save your time/money.
Florida International Univeristy-This is bit of a reach for you but much more realistic than the schools above. Keep on the list if you can afford it.
Georgia State University-Keep on your list. Admission here is much more likely than any of the other schools above.
North Carolina State Univeristy-Remove. This school accepted less than 5% of students with math SAT below 500.
Northeastern Univeristy-Remove. This school accepted less than 5% of students with math SAT below 500.
Nova Southeastern Univerisity-Keep on your list. Admission is more realistic for you than many of the others. Admission is not a sure thing.
Ohio State UniveristyNortheastern Univeristy-Remove. This school accepted less than 5% of students with math SAT below 500. I can almost guarantee those accepted with low scores are athletes.
Purdue Univeristy-remove. This school accepted less than 10% of students with math SAT below 500.
Quinnipiac Univeristy-Keep on your list. Admission is more realistic for you than many of the others. Admission is not a sure thing.
Rutgers Univeristy-Remove. This school accepted less than 5% of students with math SAT below 500.
Syracuse Univeristy-remove. This school accepted less than 10% of students with math SAT below 500.
University of ArizonaKeep on your list. Admission is more realistic for you than many of the others. Admission is not a sure thing.
UC Riverside-Remove. International students with low SAT scores have no chance at any of the UCs.
UC San Diego-Remove. International students with low SAT scores have no chance at any of the UCs.
UMass Amherst-Remove. This school accepted less than 5% of students with math SAT below 500.
Univeristy of Miami-Remove. This school accepted less than 5% of students with math SAT below 500.
UNC Pembroke-Keep on your list. You have a good chance of admission here.
Univeristy of PennsylvaniaThis school did not accept a single student with math SAT below 500. I am all for being optimistic and applying to some reach schools but you are not remotely competitive for this school. Save your time/money.
Univeristy of South Floridai-Remove. This school accepted less than 10% of students with math SAT below 500.
UNC Pembroke-Keep on your list. You have a good chance of admission here.
Villanova Univeristy-Remove. This school accepted 1% of students with math SAT below 500.
This thread is an exercise in frustration.
Agree ^^^. Remove UCSD, no financial aid available.
Building on the excellent work of @Proudpatriot, the schools you might want to consider applying to are (from highest reach to lowest reach):
Florida International University
Nova Southeastern University
University of Arizona
Quinnipiac University
Georgia State University
UNC Pembroke
Check the aid offered to internationals at these schools. With a 1060/1600 SAT (460M/600R) I don’t think you’ll qualify for any merit aid, so if your parents can’t pay for these schools try to find more affordable options to use your application money on instead.
If you don’t want a school with potential crime/ safety issues , remove Ga State.
As others have told you, your test scores are pretty low for the types of schools you were looking at. You mentioned in another post that you took the SAT without studying. If you can devote some real time to test prep and can bring them up, you might have some more options. Have you tried the ACT? Some people do better on the ACT than the SAT, and vice versa. But your scores are way too low to even consider some of the schools on your original list. @Proudpatriot did an excellent job of helping you to whittle it down. I understand that Penn is your dream school, but it’s not at all realistic with your current scores.
Another thought is that you might want took at some of the test optional schools. There’s a list of them:
http://fairtest.org/university/optional
You also might look at some of the Colleges that Change Lives, many of which are also test optional.
I’m not going to address issues of affordability, as others have covered that.